Superior intelligence is so overrated

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It doesn't get you laid, it doesn't make people want to be friends with you, and in reality doesn't help you get a job (unless it is a specialized intelligence). Most important, it doesn't lead to happiness.

I wish I learned that earlier in life.

I agree with the first three, not with the last, it may take more time but very intelligent people CAN be happy.

Happiness can be achieved only by wisdom; not riches, not intelligence, not connections, not love, not prestige.

You have to LEARN how to be happy, it requires great wisdom.

Don't write off intellectual intelligence as useless just because it doesn't apply to every situation.

I think the problem here is that you are expecting (or at least wishing for) intellectual intelligence alone to carry situations which in fact rely on other forms of intelligence, such as emotional intelligence and social intelligence.

If you lack those other forms of intelligence, then yes, things such as making friends and landing a job can be more difficult. But that doesn't make intellectual intelligence any less valuable. If you lacked intellectual intelligence too, for example, you would be unable to articulate your feelings the way you have just done! Life would be infinitely harder for you.

Enjoy intellectual intelligence for what it is. It can be a great help in many situations, even if it is not a substitute for other forms of intelligence such as social and emotional.

Very wise post!

Anything that turns out to be useless is overrated.

this is because we commonly assume that basic intelligence is the only kind there is. It's emotional intelligence that leads to the first 3.

Case in point - I work with scientists every day. Even though they're all smarter than me, I treat them like everyday people, which they either are, or want to be like. No complaints so far...

It also requires the right biochemical balance sometimes unfortunately. I now believe I have some form of bi-polar disorder and there is really little way to force my way out of the extreme lows. It's like nothing even matters to me anymore.

However, you are here posting on a forum and interacting with people, which is a good thing It doesn't seem that you have lost all will for life.

Depression is an awful disabling thing, though. I myself suffer greatly from it and was recently hospitalised overnight after an overdose. But understanding that it is in fact a condition, caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, does help. Knowing that life is not intrinsically bad or worthless, just filtered in an unappealing way.

"Superior intelligence" produced the technology that you (and I) use to post comments at the Internet. And, if we post comments, is because it is good for own happiness.

And the inteligence of the people who invented the contraceptive pill makes more easy to get laid.

It is true that, at an individual level, the inteligence of "individual A" does not contribute much to the happiness of these individual, but, at an aggregate level, the total inteligence existing in a society is a very important factor for the happiness of the individuals living in these society.

Sure. Everyone's strengths contribute to society; but intelligence isn't the only thing that does. An intelligent person can invent a new engine design, but there's lots more that people need that doesn't have much to do with intelligence. Most of the essential functions of our society do not require high intelligence. For example, a lot of the people who do groundskeeping at the college I attend are cognitively disabled; and they can do eight hours' work outside on their feet--something I can't do. I'd probably quit the job by the third week, or if desperate for the money, be fired by the sixth. And yet two of these guys recently celebrated ten YEARS working for the grounds department...

Granted, not every job is open to them; but let's look at the average range, where most of us here are. What percentage of jobs really need high intelligence? Probably one in a hundred... Think about it: The jobs that actually REQUIRE high intelligence are few and far between. You've got doctors, lawyers, college profs, scientist/researchers, and even then exceptional effort or talent can take an average person into the above average skill range.

Don't believe me? Check this out:

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/08/19/iq- ... ious-jobs/

Source: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/98-07.pdf

Yeah. The ONLY group where nobody had an IQ of below 100 (the average) was doctors--and they started at 105.

Intelligence is unrelated to individual happiness.
It's kind of like ice cream--nice to have, but you can live without it.

Last edited by Callista on 06 Dec 2008, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Not all the time do I feel that way. I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. It's just when I'm at a really low point where it gets like that. I get into a state sometimes where my brain almost physically hurts because I'm so depressed. When I'm in it there seems to be nothing in the world could make me happy at that moment and that very thought is scary. It makes all the previous little pleasures feel like they were illusions.

Anyways I'm going way off topic so I'll stop.

Lots of unintelligent people are unhappy, too! Much distress is caused at least in part by lack of planning and problem solving skills.

Intelligence doesn't get laid, and that's bad for evolution. It's not getting any smarter out there!

Intelligence can also be a barrier to friendships insofar as it makes one different from the mainstream, but it opens up the possibility of friendships with the right people. Several of the people I have been friends with would never tolerate charlatans or sloppy thinking.

It's not the intelligence, per se, that gets you laid, friends, employment, or happiness. It's what you actually do with your intelligence that matters. Consider intelligence to be a toolbox. it isn't enough to say "Lookie! I have tools! Be my friend and hire me to have sex with you and we'll both be happy!" No, you have to demonstrate that you know how to use the tools, or you must use the tools to construct bridges between yourself and any potential lovers, friends, employers, and happy times.

So it's not what you have, it's how you use it that matters.

I agree totally, its how you use the intelligence that you do have that makes a difference

On the topic I think intelligence can be alienating, especially when you have something like AS. Intelligent people without AS seem to be able to dumb themselves down in social situations with non-intellectual people while still having an enjoyable time.

The above statement probably sounds arrogant but it isn’t really. I often feel inferior to less intelligent people who seem to cope better in life and are more caring than I'm able to be.